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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: cabinet · craft · row · straw · face · pop · cold · leaves

  1. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  3. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  8. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  9. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. What do you think of the new ________________?
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  24. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. leaves — to go away
  4. face — to point toward
  5. cold — an illness
  6. pop — music
  7. craft — a handicraft
  8. leaves — of a tree
  9. craft — a skill
  10. cold — not warm
  11. pop — soda
  12. face — to confront
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. row — to paddle
  18. pop — to visit
  19. leaves — lets stay
  20. face — part of the head
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  24. craft — boats

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com